How much is my Elder book worth?

by david on 28 January 2010

I am asked this question more often than all the other questions put together.

Most Elder titles are not worth much money. They might be old, and they might be hard to find, but this does not necessarily make them valuable. What matters most is the book’s condition. Most Elder titles, even if they’re in excellent shape, sell on Ebay for about $20. If the book still has its dust jacket, the value will increase. If, on the other hand, the book is in poor condition, it might not sell at all.

A few Elder titles are particularly well-known and desirable, such as:

anything in a special gift box, especially if it has kept the book in fine condition

Some titles were issued in multiple editions, e.g. in an “ordinary” trade edition and a much fancier limited edition. Elder also issued a large amount of ephemera, much of which is now quite rare. Catalogs, particularly ones before 1912, and copies of his in-house magazine Impressions are also in demand.

Lastly, a note on terminology: to a bookseller, “good” condition is bad thing: only “poor” condition is worse. The scale from best to worst is: fine (sometimes “mint”), near fine, very good, good, fair, poor.

Collectors often grumble at dealer prices. In the case of Paul Elder editions, where’s the complaint? A serious Paul Elder collector can acquire a vast, typographically important, and absolutely exquisite collection for relatively little – pocket change really. At the end of a long, happy period accumulating these beautiful volumes, a collector can look back with pride, and eventually realize that book collecting, like any other response to the arts of mankind, is about appreciation and not acquisition.